Sunday, April 24, 2011

April 24, 2011 “Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them.”

Dennis Gabor

Over the long weekend, we finally got to re-watch the movie "Kandahar", out some years ago, but because of the continual un-rest in the middle east, I wanted to see it again. Especially on this special Easter holiday, I still try to understand other cultures, other ways of being. Hence, the poem.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Once again I refer to http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/ who shared the idea of a Tyburn. Here is what she shared:

A six line poem consisting of 2, 2, 2, 2, 9, 9 syllables.

The first four lines rhyme and are all descriptive words. The last two lines rhyme and incorporate the first, second, third, and fourth lines as the 5th through 8th syllables.

As I worked on this, I created several rhyme collections, but also as I worked, I began to think I was writing a slogan-like poem, or rap-like, although brief. I found that I kept returning to wanting to share a lesson, and this is what happened with the messing about.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

April 17, 2011 “Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.” Luther Burbank

If you walk around my house, you will see plants in several rooms, mostly getting eastern sun, from which they flourish.My plants comprise a part of my life, my history, because many of them are from people whom I love.Some plants are many years old, and every time I care for them with water, fertilizer. and trimming, I send a little thought to the person that has a connection to the plant.

The Plant Connection

Sundays, early in the day,

I water the plants, and say hello

to various relatives and friends.These plants

have lived with me for a long time, keeping the air clean and humid,

providing shades of green that are poems in themselves:

jade, teal, asparagus, celadon and chartreuse.

Their bright spark of blooms

are daily gifts to my eyes.

Here, the beefsteak begonia (Begonia erythrophylla),

from my grandmother Sarah, offers

tiny pink blooms on long, thin branches.

My grandmother, whose name also blesses

my daughter, threw seeds out that grew into her wild garden.

She wished for no calm flower beds in her yard.

As a young child, I hid among the plants,

making stories with the hens and chickens, the bluebells, and the bread and butter flowers.

And she taught me how wonderful are the houseplants,

keeping growing in mind during the drab months of winter.

There, the Madagascar dragon tree (Dracaena marginata),

lopped off at one time

because of its leaning tendency,

springing now into the largest plant, healthy, vibrant, strong.

It came to me as a remembrance of my

father-in-law.He, years gone, but too soon, comes into

my memory as I water and trim the leaves.

I remember his loving teasing, his gardening expertise

that fed us well in our early marriage—

the rich red of the tomatoes, bright yellow corn on the cob, the cool green of lettuces.

I water less the phalaenopsis, purple orchid, but attend to it

nonetheless.It is a gift from a friend to honor my mother’s passing.

I think of friendship and my mother

as I pass by.

There are others:the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii)

from another dear one’s funeral,

the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera)

begun as a tiny sprout from a neighbor,

the Old Man cactus (Cephalocereus senilis),

a birthday gift from my husband,

and the shamrock (Oxalis regnellii) given to me

from a friend so long ago.

The plant and the friendship, still thriving.

I finish the watering by giving thanks for my blessings, of houseplants and friends, of blossoms and family.Like the plants, my life fills with the careful tending of my friends and family too.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

April 16, 2011 “A poem conveys not a message so much as the provenance of a message, an advent of sense.” Thomas Harrison

We are planning activities for Earth Day at school, and I thought about it, wondering if Earth Day could impact the turbulence in the world also. If one is living in a land of war, and trying to care for family and self, it is difficult to think about taking care of the earth, which also needs our care. It would be my wish that those in peril could soon be safe, living in a peaceful land.